FLASK
by KateTheNerd
Summary: Aquamarine, Facet 7D1K Cut BF4, has worked on Homeworld all her life. When one mistake has her destroyed and sent to a colony on the planet Earth, one gem saves her and promises she will return. Now, Aquamarine has lived among humans for years, and she wonders if her savior ever is coming back for her. Then, everything changes for her in an instant.
1. Prologue

Prologue: Date 4 73 4

It was late, as the third moon began to sink over the horizon. I glanced out my blue-tinted window and rested my chin on my free hand as I scrolled through log after log, numbers and symbols flashing before my eyes.

I let out a gentle sigh as I glanced over complicated, transparent plans, and was about to swipe it away when I stopped. Peering closer at the plans, I realized what they were for. A new colony, formed on a distant planet that had been dubbed Earth. There were formulas everywhere, writing scribbled in every corner, and building plans cluttering up the file it was in. As I looked at the grand plans, I realize something was off. The colony-to-planet ratio was off horribly. If these plans had continued, they would have needed a planet twice as big. Then I would get blamed for not doing my job.

I was an Aquamarine on the Homeworld of the Gems. My purpose was surveying and drawing up plans, and occasionally helping to build structures. Aquamarines were generally a smart gem, but there were so many more gems that could be used for our functions that we were normally cast aside. My gem was located on my neck, which gave me the unusual power to heal, if a gem was cracked or damaged in any way. But again, since there were many others with neck gems, I was cast aside and put to the task of surveying plans before they were sent to the Diamonds. But now as I looked at the plans about to be sent to our leaders, I felt conflicted.

It was against the rules to modify any documents or files before sending them away. It was either approve it as correct or send it back and have them start over. And the mistake was so minor, just fixing a few numbers would make it perfect. I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my forehead at the dilemma.

I glanced around to make sure no one was looking, then tapped the screen a few times. Just a few numbers. No one would notice, right?

I approved the modified files. They were sent off to the Diamonds, assumingly Yellow Diamond, as she was my boss and oversaw the construction of all off-planet structures and colonies. Breathing a deep sigh, I finished out my work for the day and shut off my screen. No one was in the room. I was in the clear.

Or so I thought.

The next day, as I went into work, I saw my manager standing at the door, a tall, intimidating Citrine. She had her arms crossed with a scowl placed on her face, and I instantly had a feeling of dread wash over me.

"Aquamarine, Facet 7D1K Cut BF4. I believe you have some explaining to do."

I groaned. "What do you mean? What have I done wrong?"

Her eye twitched, anger building with every second. "You INTENTIONALLY went against our one rule! NO MODIFYING ANY PLANS! Now those plans are sent off to the Diamonds and we cannot change them! You failed your job, you broke our rules, and you are an embarrassment to every Aquamarine on Homeworld!"

My face grew redder as she yelled at me, from embarrassment, but also from rage. After she finished her speech, she turned away and pulled up a screen, taking a deep breath to calm herself down.

"You will be fired from this station and sent to work on the colony on Patria. The colony is complete but the resources have not been mined out of the planet's core. I hope you will not fail like you did with this job."

Patria was a neighboring planet a few thousand units from Earth. It was a barren wasteland, which we had turned into a colony and began to mine out the interior, but the interior was entirely composed of molten rock. I grumbled, and was about to turn away when she finished speaking. "An Aquamarine sent to mine on a colony. How ironic."

At this point my anger exploded. "Agh, I can't take it anymore! Why am I, a fully capable, talented, smart Aquamarine given the low-level jobs? I have SO much more potential than this, and YOU must be so ignorant you cannot see that! I should be the boss while YOU are spending years scrolling through plan after plan! I should be the manager of YOU, you….you…CLOD!"

I breathed heavily, and then my eyes grew wide as I finished my rant and realized what I had done. Citrine stalked up to me, almost twice my size even with my limb enhancers I used for my job, with the angriest expression on her face you'd ever seen. Before I could even blink, she lifted me up off the ground, tore off my attachments, and stomped towards the middle of Homeworld. Right towards…Yellow Diamond.

Oh boy.

I just realized she had been watching me the whole time. Her screen was carefully monitoring the termination of one of her workers, and she wanted to make sure nothing went wrong. Even though in THIS situation, something went horribly, horribly wrong.

I was struggling the entire time she carried me, and as two Pearls parted the doors, Citrine put me down, a hand firmly grasping my arm. Yellow Diamond turned to us with a sickly grin on her face.

"Oh, dear." She boomed in her loud, commanding voice. "First you break the most important rule, then you refuse to be fired, then you insult your manager right to her face." She gave out a chuckle, and a chill ran down my spine. "You may be right, you are capable of so much more. Too bad for us we'll never get to see it. Guards!"

Two huge Topazes stalked towards me and lifted me up off the ground again. I punched their enormous arms, but it did no use. Yellow Diamond smoothened her hair and then turned to her screen before addressing the Topazes.

"Have her taken to… _the expulsion room._ She is no longer permitted in my court, on Homeworld, or anywhere else! She must be broken, and her remains scattered over the budding Earth colony!" I heard her smug Pearl chuckle and type in some data. "Now get her out of my sight!"

The Topazes whisked me away to the dreaded room on the far side of our planet. After we warped there, they threw open the door and stalked in. I could see a Peridot, working on her green-tinted screen, turn to them quickly and salute. They tossed me in a small, escape pod-looking room before shutting the door tight. The Peridot glanced in at me, and her eyes widened under her visor for a brief moment before she turned to the Jaspers.

"Yellow Diamond has informed you of the fate of this Aquamarine?" The Topazes spoke in gruff, simultaneous voices to the shriveling Peridot. I pressed my hands on the door of the pod and screamed, but it was no use. One Topaz simply smacked the side of the pod and I silenced myself out of fear.

The Peridot nodded, quivering, and the larger gems marched out of the room in perfect step. She then went behind her desk, and I couldn't see her any more. It was dead silent in the room, and then I heard a slight whirring sound.

The walls of the pod began moving closer from all angles, shrinking. I attempted to push against them to slow them, but it was futile. I thought about summoning my weapon, but it would do no good, and by then the walls would have already crushed me. I curled into a ball, wincing for the impact, but then the walls slowed, then stopped. I opened an eye, and although I couldn't see out the door anymore, I heard the muffled voice of the Peridot from outside the pod.

"Listen closely. I know what you did with those plans, and with your manager. I have to admit, the plans you modified were mine, and my manager said if I messed up one more time I would be terminated from my position. So…you took the fall for me, and I appreciate that. I am Peridot, Facet 2F5L, Cut 5XG. I'm going to shrink the pod down just enough for your physical form to be destroyed, but your gem will remain intact. Not a scratch made. You should reform on Earth, a distant colony in the Alpha Quadrant. I'm scheduled to visit there on a task to…well…it's unsure at this point. But I need you to remember something. My robonoids are dubbed with the identification F.L.A.S.K. Flask Robonoids. If you can remember the word FLASK, I promise, I'll return to Earth, find you, and bring you back to Homeworld. It's the least I can do after what you did for me."

I heard muffled footsteps, some beeping, and the walls closed in again. The voice came again. "Remember FLASK. I'll return the favor, I promise."

Then I felt my physical form shatter, all went black, and I retreated into my gem.

That was the last memory I ever had on Homeworld.


	2. Chapter 1: Date 6 98 9

Chapter 1: Date 6 98 9

All I saw around me was darkness, stars twinkling in the corner of my eyes but they never came into my field of vision. I felt as though I was falling, falling, and falling with no end in sight. Then my entire world shook. It felt like reality was collapsing. I heard a scream, mumbled words, and then silence.

Then the voice, one I had remembered for two thousand years, spoke.

"Remember FLASK. I'll return the favor, I promise."

I woke up, startled, shaking. I hadn't dreamed in a long time, and the sensation shook my entire being with its nonsensical meanings. I stood up, brushing off leaves that had accumulated on me as I slept and stepping out of the broken escape pod I called home.

I went for a stroll as the sun came peeking over the horizon. More than 2000 years had passed since I had left my Homeworld. I was presumably dead, no one bothered to check whether the gems were shattered or not before they were sent to a colony. They just didn't care that much.

I shook the sleep from my eyes. Even though I was a Gem, I still enjoyed sleeping to some extent. Of course, I didn't need it, but it was refreshing every once in a while. My fingers touched the blue teardrop-shaped gem on my neck. Of course, it was the center of my being, but I liked to think that my physical form was still me, and that I wasn't confided to my gem. Just touching it reminded me of who I was, and who I would always be.

I looked over through the trees, towards a small civilization. Since I had been living on the human world for so long, I had evolved with them. I had watched them develop new technology and throw out the old, I had seen countless humans be born, grow up, and die, refueling the cycle. I gave a sigh. I promised myself I would only go into the town once every cycle of the human moon, but I miss the company, even if it is from another species, far more inferior to my own.

With a deep breath out, I walked back towards my pod. I had lived in it for years; it was the only thing, besides me, that I had from home. That and the one word. The word connected to the voice, which flooded me with hope and joy every time I imagined it.

Flask.

Apparently in the human world, it means something very different. It means a container of some sort, which I don't understand at all. Their words kept evolving with them until they had a different tongue anywhere you went, and a new set of words to match. I would never understand them.

I trotted back to my pod, glancing through the trees to make sure no humans spotted me. When I had first arrived on the planet, they treated me as an alien, a monster from another world. The story is that humans like to attack things they don't understand. I heard rustling, and I froze. Backing up against a tree, I looked around, watching for any movement. When all was silent, I continued walking. Cautiously.

Then, out of the dead silence of the forest, I heard a yell. Well, more like a war cry. Something grabbed me from behind, throwing me onto the ground. It bound my hands, and I kicked to break free. I heard it grunt, and then another threw itself on top of me. They were humans, wearing some sort of green and brown articles that matched the colors of the forest. I worked a hand free and reached up towards the gem on my neck, and without a moment of hesitation, I summoned my weapon.

I hadn't summoned it in years. It was a sharp, blue sword with a green handle, carved with waves and bubbles. I threw them off me and with a yell, fought them to the ground and pointed my sword at the chest of one of my attackers.

"Who are you?! Why did you attack me?!" I shouted at them in a booming voice, mimicking Yellow Diamond back at home, hoping to intimidate them.

The faces of one of the humans turned a pale white, and they stuttered out an answer. "W-We received a h-h-hint that some blue lady w-was living in these woods! S-Someone is offering thousands of d-dollars for her capture…"

My sword dropped to the ground and vanished, retreating back into my gem. "Someone is looking for me?" I murmured, as the humans quickly scurried away, yelling in terror. One of them left behind a sheet of paper, which I picked up and skimmed over.

On it, it had a drawing of me. Nothing impressive, but still recognizable. My seafoam-blue hair, tied with ribbons so they fell down my shoulders. A free-flowing, blue and green dress that's patterns mimicked the waves of the ocean. And the blue gem in the center of my neck, glistening with the power it contained.

I looked at the bottom of the paper. Various numbers were scribbled in small handwriting, the writing from Homeworld. It wasn't in any human language I could identify. They were coordinates.

Quickly, I sprinted back to my pod, digging through the stuff I had collected. I had one more thing saved from Homeworld. A log, connected to four fingers of a limb enhancer I no longer had, but I always stashed the log in the folds of my dress. I tried to start up the log, the screen flashing with a cracked blue light. The only program that worked was the map, but that was all I needed.

I saw my current coordinates, and then punched in the ones on the paper. It was a location near the ocean, about 10 units away from me. About a day's journey, but I was willing to do it to find out who, or what, wanted people to attack me.

I packed up what few belongings I had in a small knapsack I found in the woods, and followed the program towards the location, wondering what I would encounter.


	3. Chapter 2: Date 6 99 1

Chapter 2: Date 6 99 1

It took me about a day to reach the spot, following the map closely. Occasionally it bugged out and I had to attempt to fix it, which delayed my travel. As I walked, questions buzzed through my mind, all of them unanswered.

How did someone see me? Humans have only seen me a few times, and then had died off, taking the memory with me. And if they did, how would they have written the coordinates in the native script of Homeworld?

The only answer I could find was that someone on Homeworld was informed of me being here, and they want me caught and shattered. But I wouldn't let that happen. I had practiced fighting on the forest greenery and any humans whom I encountered every once in a while.

Maybe…just maybe…it could be my savior, the one that promised my rescue all those years ago.

As I neared the site, I slowed down, eyeing every noise, every movement, in case it was hostile Homeworlders. If they discovered I was still intact, I would be public enemy number one. And that Peridot would probably have been destroyed too…

I shook my head and turned off the navigator. I rounded a corner and entered a canyon as I realized what the signal was pointing me to: A Kindergarten. It was abandoned, wrecked, completely put out of commission. The Injectors were smashed and shattered, and there was no sign of life or movement from any walls of the canyon.

I was hesitant to call out if anyone was there. Instead, I creeped near the walls, cautious of any traps that could be sprung. As I delved further into the Kindergarten, I heard a noise. They weren't exactly footsteps, they were robotic and thudded the ground with every quick step.

I thought quickly, ducking into a small hole that used to be home to a newly formed gem. I waited as the sound got louder and louder, and then came into my view. I instantly recognized it from home.

A robonoid.

I let out a small gasp, instantly covering my mouth to prevent any more sound from escaping. The small, cylindrical robot turned towards me, but sensed no movement. Praying for it to turn around, I craned my neck as far out of the hole as I could without it seeing me. Picking up a small rock that was in the crevice, I tossed it out of the hole so it landed behind the robot with a noticeable clatter. It turned around, and I stuck my head out of the hole for a mere second so I could see the identification.

Lo and behold, written in the native Homeworld lettering, was F.L.A.S.K. I audibly gasped, but before I could duck back into my hiding spot, the robonoid spun around and caught me in an identification beam, locking onto the gem exposed on my neck and scanning it. In just a second, it identified me, and scurried away further into the Kindergarten, sounding an ear-piercing alarm as it ran.

Instantly, I jumped out of the hole and sprinted towards the small robot. What if the Peridot was compromised, and this is just a filler mechanic who identified me as an enemy with the same machinery? The robonoid was fast, almost too fast. Quickly I scanned my surroundings and calculated a plan in a split-second. I ran up the wall and quickly drew my weapon, kicking up a rock and launching it towards the scurrying orb like the humans did in their primitive games. I jumped off the rock and kept running, hoping the angle could do its work. The rock landed directly in front of the robonoid, and its long, sturdy legs tripped over the small stone and sent the robot plunging into the dark dirt of the Kindergarten.

After that, I quickly caught up with it, placing a foot on it so it couldn't get away. The alarm was still sounding, giving away my location. I attempted to disable it, but gem tech I was familiar with had aged, and I was just not knowledgeable about the screeching machine to disable it. I reverted to the old human technique and started smashing the alarm with a rock, at least trying to muffle it.

"Hold it right there!" A voice, eerily familiar, rang out behind me, and the robonoid instantly silenced. I put down the rock and held up my hands in defeat, refusing to turn around lest it was a Jasper or Amethyst here to destroy me.

"You…" The voice spoke, slightly shaky. I fought the urge to turn around and just stood there, staring at the deep purple Kindergarten walls. "You set off my Flask Robonoid?" I gulped, hearing the words that were stuck in my brain for years.

"Well?!" They said. "Turn around!"

I spun around and froze at the sight in front of me. It was indeed a Peridot. Everything fit. The robonoid. The gem placement. Even the voice, which had told me the words that pushed me to keep surviving, knowing there was a link to get me back home. The Peridot looked stunned as well, staring at me with a shocked expression. She had limb enhancers that made her very tall, technology that was only for upper-ranking technicians when you were on Homeworld. Her hair was spiked up into a tetrahedron shape, and she looked very modern since the last time I glimpsed her.

"You're that Aquamarine…aren't you?" She spoke with a shaking voice, close to cracking. I nodded, taking a step closer.

"You remembered me." I said, inching closer with every word. "You saved my life, and after all these years, you actually kept your promise!"

An instinct hit me, probably after observing humans for years. When overjoyed, they normally wrap appendages around one another, an odd ritual. But as I stood there, staring at the Peridot I had remembered for centuries, I leaped forwards and enveloped her in the human "hug".

She froze for a second, and then returned it. It must have been a past instinct that Homeworld banned. But it felt natural, and years of waiting had finally paid off. I spoke to the Peridot, not letting go.

"You don't know how long I've waited to hear you say Flask."


	4. Chapter 3: Date 6 99 1

Chapter 3: Date 6 99 1

We stood still for a few moments, and then pulled away from the embrace. Questions buzzed through my mind, and I laughed nervously as I tried to figure out what to say to the gem I've waited years to see again.

"So, tell me everything! What happened after I left? Did anyone find out? Why are you here? Why did it take you so long to get here?" I spat out questions faster then she could answer them. "Are…are we going home?"

Peridot hesitated for a moment, and then spoke. "Well, one at a time. After you left, it was basically what you'd expect. The plans were recalled, but they found nothing wrong with them, and I destroyed the original so they wouldn't find my mistake. And then…they just assumed you were shattered. I was moved to a different station after a while, working on the Cluster here on Earth." The robonoid, which I had chased down, was now bumping into Peridot's leg with malfunctioning mechanical whirs. She simply shoved it aside and toppled it over, as it struggled to regain its balance and then gave up.

"The…Cluster?" I asked, curious. There were no plans of any Cluster when I was working on Homeworld, so I assumed it was another plan for a colony, or maybe a massive Kindergarten.

The green gem bit her lip for a moment, giving me mixed thoughts. "Well, we started progress on it after the Kindergartens were shut down by a rebel gem group. They halted production on the Earth colony shortly after your…termination." Peridot smoothened a piece of her lime green hair that was sticking out of its triangular shape. "The Cluster is a huge gem geo-weapon, comprised of millions of gem shards that were grown in the Kindergarten a few thousand years ago."

I scratched the back of my neck. "So, a lot has changed since I left, huh?"

Peridot nodded. "The war between Homeworld and the Rebels was just a minor skirmish when we worked there, and it lasted almost 900 more years after you left. Farther away from this location, in a very isolated part of this planet devoid of life. I don't think any life forms on Earth have any memories of it."

I was about to respond, then she interrupted me with her own question. "What exactly have you done all these years? Have you encountered any of the rebels?"

I shook my head. "You were the first gem I've seen since then. I hung around the Earthlings' civilizations, a race called 'humans'. They were just beginning to evolve into a civilization, and they develop technology at an extremely slow rate. My pod crashed near one of their towns, and I just observed. And waited." I sighed. "One more question, then we should head somewhere else. It's getting dark. Why are you here, and can we go home?"

It was silent for a few moments. "I came to check progress on the Cluster, just in and out. But then a group of rebels attacked me, the Jasper that was guarding me, and the Lapis Lazuli that was my informant. We attempted to bring them back to Homeworld, but they crashed our ship. I escaped in a pod on the ship, and touched down a few units away from here. But I didn't want anything to do with the clods that attacked us, a rebel group called the 'Crystal Gems'. So I fled to this Kindergarten and attempted to keep doing my job, but saw your pod on one of my scanners. So I put up a sign to try and find you, not knowing whether or not you stayed with your pod."

I pressed my hands together, taking all the information in. "So…the ship crashed? And we can't go home?"

She shook her head. "Nope. We might be able to get a message out from an old communication hub not too far from here. The only problem is that the only warp pad anywhere close to here is in the lair of the Crystal Clods." Peridot ground her teeth together when she spoke their name. It was obvious that whatever encounter she had with the rebels was not a good one.

"Alright, so we either sneak into their base and use the warp pad there, or travel who knows how far away to find another one." I shrugged. "Might as well take a risk and try the one in their lair."

Peridot nodded. "I know the way. We visited their base before putting them on our ship. It should only take a day or two." She started walking towards the exit of the Kindergarten, opening up her screen from her four floating fingers from her limb enhancers. I saw her push a few buttons and then start up the map feature, pinpointing a certain location. She walked a few more feet, and then turned back to me. "Are…you coming?" I nodded and quickly trotted to catch up to her.

We started our slow trek towards the base of the Crystal Gems. She was much taller than me with her limb enhancers, tall enough that she could easily rest her arm on my head. I was used to it; a lot of technology-oriented gems used them in their work. I didn't get a pair of my own, because it wasn't needed in my position.

As we continued, I saw biomes I had never seen before. Sure, I had been on Earth for centuries, but I never ventured this far from my pod. We approached a huge body of…something. It looked like the liquids found on our Homeworld, but there is almost none of it back on the home planet. If any, it's frozen or in very small quantities. Some gems, like Lapis Lazulis, have the power of hydrokinesis, but it makes them incredibly weak because of the low supply of it in our environment. I was a water-based gem, but the only ability I get from it was my healing powers.

After a while of me staring at the body of liquid with no communication, I sighed and broke the silence. "So, Peridot. Your screen contains information about this planet, right?" She nodded and minimized the map function, bringing up her log. "What is the big mass of liquid? I've never seen anything like it back on Homeworld."

She typed in the question in a few quick motions, and then analyzed the data. "Apparently, it's called the ocean, a huge mass of water, or multiple compounds of hydrogen and oxygen." I looked back at the ocean, and the light particles bouncing off it and creating colors other than the deep blue-green the water consisted of. "Whoa. The oceans of this planet make up 75% of the surface?" Peridot chuckled. "These organic life forms have the worst choice of residence I've ever seen."

I laughed and continued looking at the water, entranced. Suddenly, Peridot put a mechanical hand in front of me, stopping me in my tracks as I bumped into it without realizing. "What was that for?" I turned to look at her, and she picked me up with her limb enhancers with ease and dropped me behind a rock, crouching down beside it as well.

"There they are. The…" She growled while glaring towards a mountain on the far side of the ocean's shore. "Crystal Clods." I peered at the bottom of the mountain and saw three gems. I couldn't believe my eyes at their group. It was a fusion, and a rather small one at that. A pearl, that looked like she belonged to White Diamond from the gem on her forehead. And an amethyst, but extremely small and unthreatening, looking like she was overcooked.

"Really?" I chuckled. "Those are the rebels that bugged you so much?" I stifled a laugh as she glared daggers at me. "They're just a group of misfits. How powerful can they get?"

"They're…admittedly…stronger than they look. There's also some weird quartz, but he looks like a human, and has the shield of Rose Quartz, the leader of the rebellion. I guess this is the last of their army." Peridot shut down her screen and peered over the rock, watching them with an unfaltering gaze. "As soon as they leave, we can slip inside and use the warp to the communication hub."

"So…now we wait." I sat down, watching the group of gems and occasionally glancing to Peridot. "This shouldn't take long, right?"


	5. Chapter 4: Date 6 99 2

Chapter 4: Date 6 99 2

"Peridot, this is taking WAY too long!" I groaned, sliding back down on the rock we were hiding behind. The moon of the planet was rising above the blue-green ocean waters, at the break of nighttime. I wasn't tired, just bored. We had been staring at their base for hours, and the only thing they had done was walk around outside, then go inside and not come out. We would have seen a bright flash of light as they warped, but the house remained still and silent. "How long do we have to wait for these dumb gems to use the warp? Wait, no, I have a better question. Why don't we use the warp now since they're been inactive for hours?!" I was getting anxious; if I had to sit here for another hour I was going to break one of her limb enhancers right off.

"It'll be too noticeable that way. We need to make sure they're all gone, and then we can just slip in and warp to the communication hub." Peridot looked irritated as well, but somehow kept it together.

"Can we at least get closer to hear if they have any plans on leaving?" I crossed my arms and threw a glance over my shoulder, checking for any motion.

Peridot sighed. "Sure, I guess. Erm…there seems to be a big rock around the side of the mountain, but we'd have to move fast and quietly."

That was all the information I needed. I quickly stood up, brushed off my blue and green dress, and took bounding leaps towards the indicated rock. I was quite light on my feet, practiced from years of sneaking around humans. I ducked under the backside of the boulder resting in the sand and shot a grin at Peridot. She slapped her face with her floating mechanical fingers and growled at me. "Jealous?" I mouthed, stifling a giggle. I saw her attempt to copy me, but her limb enhancers made too much of a clanking noise. Even on the soft sand, you heard a _thud, thud, thud_ with every step she took. She ducked behind the rock we were first hiding behind with a grumble. I heard some electronic beeping, a bit of a poof, and then she popped up from the back and started tiptoeing towards me, carrying her leg attachments under each of her arms. After a few moments, she came at a stop next to me, panting a bit after sprinting across the beach carrying the large metal attachments.

Peridot put them down on the sand and caught her breath, before standing up and looking at me. I had the biggest grin tugging on my lips and a snarky expression across my face. She raised an eyebrow.

"What are you so cocky about? The fact that my highly advanced technology couldn't silently navigate across a sandy environment?" She snorted and started reattaching the limbs.

"No…" I said, stifling a hearty laugh. "The fact that without those fancy legs, I'm taller than you." She stopped putting the leg back over her own and stood up straight. Even with her gravity-defying hair, I was the slightest bit taller than her. I had to resist all temptation in my being that was telling me to lean on her or mess up her head.

She stuck her lip out childishly. "That doesn't prove anything. I still have the superior technology and vaster intellect compared to an Aquamarine." She finished sealing the bond that held the legs in place and straightened her back. Again, she was quite a bit taller than me, and had a smirk on her face. It seems that I had found the side of Peridot that was hidden under all the stone-cold worker impression she first gave off. I smiled to myself as she peered around the side of the boulder and started listening to the sounds inside the house.

About half of an Earth hour passed before both our ears locked in to the sounds coming from inside.

"How long do you think it'll take to find them, Garnet?" From the house, a voice echoed out, faint but growing louder.

"I don't know. But we might have a better shot at locating their position if we warp to different spots and take out the raft." A deep voice came closer to the underside of the house, but not enough to come out the door.

"Guys, can I come? My dad taught me how to fish when I was younger, and I can totally help! Plus, I don't like being alone at the house at night." A third voice came out from the mountain house, a young male voice, assumingly the hybrid Peridot was talking about.

"Why not. You know how to swim, right little man?" The last voice, a slightly raspy female, finished off the list of four gems residing in this location. A final giggle, then our attention was drawn to the top of the house, where a sparkling sound emanated and a bright light flashed for a few moments.

We both held our breaths for a few seconds, and then leaped inside the house. Pushing open a screen door and practically launching ourselves onto the warp pad, Peridot activated it as quickly as possible and threw both of us into the blinding blue light of the warp. I gave a deep sigh as we warped, but Peridot had a look of hesitation plastered across her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, curiously.

She let out a sigh. "I saw my broken escape pod in their lair just before we warp. We might be able to go back and get it, but then they might see us. I'm not taking that risk, now that we're here." She lifted up the front of her visor a bit and rubbed her eyes, shaking her head slightly.

After about a minute of warping, we arrived at the enormous, towering pillars of crystals that made up the broken communication hub. I had to stretch my neck to see the top of it, but most of it was smashed and laying on the ground.

"That's what we need to repair to get a message home?" I said, my voice losing its cheerful tone I had as we were warping here. "Well…you're a good mechanic, right?"


	6. Chapter 5: Date 6 99 2

Chapter 5: Date 6 99 2

Peridot stepped gingerly around the broken pieces of the communication hub. The light blue crystals shone in the fading light of the planet's moon as shards of them were scattered everywhere.

"Well…this is a problem. The pieces are everywhere, and the ones needed to make the tower function need to be placed way on top. I can move some pieces with my limb enhancers and tractor beams, but there's no way we can get those top shards without my ship or some sort of machine." Peridot scratched her chin and continued to walk around the pieces, her face scrunched up in deep thought.

I kept thinking along with her, sitting down and trying to come up with a plan. Then, my head snapped up, and my face turned a slightly darker shade of blue.

"Hey, uh, Peridot? I have an idea, but I don't know if you're going to like it…" I looked up at the towering structure as the green gem stepped over the scattered crystals. She raised an eyebrow as I whispered my answer.

"We could…fuse?"

She jerked back, a dark green blush spreading across her cheeks and turning blue under her green-tinted visor. "Wh-What?! A Peridot and an Aquamarine fusing?! Well…" She put her fingers on her chin as she pondered the result, her face still darker around her nose. "It could work, I guess. But do we really want to do that…?" She turned away from me and scoffed.

"It's up to you. Are you okay with it?" I shrugged. She gave a deep sigh and turned back to me, holding out her hand.

"But first, you've got to take off those limb enhancers." I stood up and brushed off my dress, stretching my back in preparation. She grumbled for a moment, and then tapped a button on each limb, popping it off with a poof in a matter of seconds. Placing them against a rock, she walked over to me and straightened her back in an attempt to reach my height. I still looked down on her with a smirk.

I took her hand uneasily and took a few steps in different directions. She tried to follow my lead, stumbling as her shorter legs tried to match the patterns mine made.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" She mumbled, grasping my hand tightly. I shook my head and moved a bit faster, getting a bit more comfortable. Twirling quickly around the sandy ground under the communication hub, I saw a smile attempt to crawl across Peridot's lips before she frowned again in concentration.

Taking a bold move, I let go of one of her hands and spun her around, keeping a tight grip on the other. She twirled for a moment, and then I pulled her back, holding her in a backwards hug. I looked down at her and saw the gem on her forehead begin to glow, and saw a blue light emanate from my neck at the same time. I closed my eyes for a moment, laughing gently as I felt my consciousness slip.

Then, I opened my eyes. It was such a strange feeling, but a voice in my head just kept saying _just stay calm. Stay calm, and enjoy it._

"Wow, so this is what it's like?" I attempted to stand up, my legs shaking dramatically as the two voices controlling me fought for control. I finally got a stable balance and stood up. I felt a cramp in my two…no, four…arms, and stretched them out in front of me. My skin was a pale blue-green, and I had four arms with long fingers that stretched out in front of me. Looking down with curiosity, I saw Peridot's limb enhancers on the ground, but they were so small. What originally fit on Peridot's arms and legs only fit as a cuff for my wrist, if it fit over my fingers.

"This is, unlike anything I've ever experienced before…my senses are all heightened, my strength enhanced!" I wasn't thinking as two gems now. They were cooperating in my mind, controlling me as one. I kept my balance and attempted to pick up a crystal. It certainly weighed a lot, but with Aquamarine's years of training in the woods, I mustered the combined strength to lift it almost to the very top of the tower. Placing it gently in its slot, I heard a mechanical chirping and whirring as the hub strained to get back online. But there were a lot more pieces to be placed.

One after another, I lifted them up from the ground around me and placed them on the growing tower. A particularly large one was set at my eye level, and I stopped for a moment to look into the reflection and admire the combined forms of Peridot and Aquamarine. I had two sets of eyes, both covered by a green-blue visor that sat above my blue triangle-shaped gem. I patted my hair that combined the styles of Aquamarine and Peridot, a blueish triangle that stretched above my head and came down into pigtails that brushed against my shoulders. I stretched my head up and saw the teardrop-shaped gem on my neck, reflecting the colors that glistened off the crystal.

"We're one gem now, so does that mean we need an identification? I've never fused before, so I'm not sure how the naming works." I spoke out loud, not really talking to anyone but the other voice in my head.

I scratched my cheek in thought and then looked into the reflective surface of the crystal, seeing the matching gems on my forehead and neck. "We look like…a Turquoise!" I raised my visor a bit that removed the green tint of my vision, and saw a gem swirling with blues and greens. I nodded as the combined gems agreed, reapplying my visor.

I finished putting the parts of the communication hub back into their rightful places and stepped back to admire my handiwork. I heard a few electronic whirs, and then a large beam of light emanated from around the top. It crackled in the middle, and squinting my top two eyes showed me that a crystal had slid out of place in the middle.

I stepped under the finished hub, ducking my head and pulling out the crystal to try to put it back in its place. When I pulled it out, however, it caused the tower to shake for a moment, and the crystal above it fell out and crashed down on my head.

My vision went black for a moment.

Then, I was back as Aquamarine, I groaned, rubbing my head and slowly opening my eyes. I felt a weight on me, and I heard another grumble near me, and as my vision cleared, I saw a green lump on top of me. I shook my head.

"Uh, Peridot?" I mumbled. She lifted her head up and opened her eyes, which widened once she realized that she was right on top of me. Peridot yelped and jumped back, bumping into a fallen crystal. I sat up and looked at the rocks surrounding us. The middle and bottom of the tower had collapsed, destroying our fusion, but it still seemed to be working. Peridot stood up and walked towards her limb enhancers, reattaching them and attempting to start up a program that synced to the communication hub.

"Alright, I'm going to try and send out a message to Homeworld. Hopefully they'll see it and come get us. Hopefully." The program beeped to life, and from the back of her holographic screen I saw words in the text we used on our home planet. "Do you…want me to mention you?"

I gasped slightly, looking down. Do I want Homeworld knowing I was alive? Maybe they'd forgotten about the whole incident those thousands of years ago. They can't have that good of a memory, right?

I shrugged slightly. "Just say you were stranded on your mission, and you need someone to pick you up. When they get here, you can say you found an abandoned gem that survived the war, and has been stuck here. And we go home! Done!" I smiled as her face scrunched up, pondering the plan. She then nodded and started up the program.

She took a deep breath. "This is Peridot, transmitting on all frequencies from abandoned Crystal System colony planet Earth. To Yellow Diamond: My mission has been compromised." I saw her get worked up slightly as she recalled what had happened since she landed on this planet. "My escort and informant are gone and I am now stranded." She eyed me for a moment, and I saw in her eyes that she was faking it to get a faster reaction from the Homeworld. "Please send help!"

I heard a buzz of static, and then her system shut down. "Did it work?" I inquired, walked towards her as the hum of the communication hub continued sending its signals.

She shrugged. "I guess we'll have to wait and see."


	7. Chapter 6: Date 6 99 5

Chapter 6: Date 6 99 5

I was practicing my swordfighting against a particularly large rock in the middle of a mountainous region by the sea. Peridot and I had taken a few days to explore the planet, and while most of it was either barren or full of humans (there was no in between), we found a nice area with a sandy cave we had made our pretend-home out of. We could see the Communication hub from where we were, but were far away so no one could see us if they warped here.

At first glance, the warp pad was broken, but Peridot had just enough F.L.A.S.K Robonoids to fix it. And it took a few days, but we hollowed out a rock and placed it over the fixed warp so it could only work when we removed it. That way, the Crystal Gems couldn't find us, realizing we had fixed the warp.

I sliced another slab of rock. I learned how to carve shapes out of rock, one of my favorite pastimes when I was stranded before Peridot found me. I carved it into a crude figure of a gem and practiced against it. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Peridot, tinkering with a Robonoid that broke when a rock crushed it. My eyes wandered to her for a moment, but then I snapped back to my rock, slicing its hand off with one swift stroke.

Then I heard a rumble. I dropped my sword and brought it back into my gem, looking around with concern. It was concentrated at the Communication hub, but wasn't anything I had heard before. Running to catch up with Peridot as she sprinted towards the hub, I looked to the side and saw a huge flash of pink light. We ducked down behind a rock and watched as the light grew brighter.

Suddenly, the light concentrated into one spot and formed a portal-looking hole, and out jumped…a huge pink beast?

We crouched behind the large rock, observing with surprise that three gems sat on top of the creature. I recognized them as the Crystal Gems that Peridot described, as we saw from a distance a while ago before we warped to the Communication Hub. The creature collapsed, and I jumped as a small human-looking male popped his head out of the pink beast, gasping for air. I could hear faint voices, but there was no way we could get closer without being seen. After a few minutes of them talking in the distance and realizing nothing would happen, I motioned for Peridot to turn her attention to me.

"Did the signal send? If they destroy it, that's our last chance of getting home gone…" I narrowed my eyebrows and watched the gems, desperately trying to hear what the voices were discussing.

Peridot cut me off with a sigh. "I have no way of knowing if our message sent or not. Honestly, the best thing we can do is wait for a result. The frequencies on this planet are pretty bad already, and if we didn't any confirmed response back, I doubt it even sent." She shrugged and peered over the top of the rock again. She gasped as she watched, louder than we were previously talking, but I instinctively pulled her down and hushed her with a finger to my lips.

"What happened out there?" I inquired, trying to get a good view. The gems were blocked by the pink lion, however, sitting on its haunches and watching its accomplices, yawning every so often.

"They're doing…something. If I'm not mistaken, it looks like a fusion dance. Ugh. It makes me sick." She stuck out a tongue in disgust. I bit my lip to avoid gasping, turning back to her.

"If they're fusing, does that mean they're going to try and destroy the hub?!" I muffled my speech with a hand over my mouth. Peridot growled and continued watching. Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of light, and a large figure began stretching out over the top of the rock. From the angle I could see from, it had four arms, hair not unlike Peridot's, and a height that would stand at least a head above our fusion.

I ducked back down, gritting my teeth. "Peridot, she's going to destroy it and send pieces flying everywhere. If we don't get out of here soon, they'll probably find us."

Peridot slumped down closer to the ground as the fusion began speaking, a voice loud enough that we could hear it clearly. "Gah, you're right. What's our next move?" She grumbled, eyeing the fusion over the side of the rock.

We both jumped when a huge noise came from the hub, and laughter could be heard from the fusion. Not looking back or caring if they say us, I grabbed Peridot's hand and stood up quickly, sprinting away from the hub and dragging her with me. The wind whipped in my ears along with the crashing sounds of the hub being destroyed, and Peridot's complaints behind me. I just kept running, running until my legs began to ache and I couldn't hear the fusion behind me. Then, panting, I slowed down and gradually stopped, Peridot collapsing behind me and popping off her limb enhancers out of exhaustion.

"I…resent you…so much for that…" Peridot said between gasps for air. Her limb enhancers whirred gently, trying to cool down from the overuse. The communication hub was a speck in the distance, and I fell onto the ground next to Peridot, trying to catch my breath. "Good job, now we're in the middle of…nowhere…with no plan or warp pad in sight." Peridot mumbled, shutting her eyes and flexing her fingers and legs.

I sat up, groaning. She was right. We were in the middle of a forest-y area, with trees on one side of us and the desolate plains that surrounded the hub on the other. I had no directions. I had no plan. But I wanted to rest, and I wanted to get home. The warp pad was back at the hub, still out of commission at first glance, but from what I knew about the warp system, there were no others nearby.

"The only choices we have right now are to wander around and hope we find some kind of landmark, or go back to the hub and use that warp." I rubbed my eyes in frustration, but Peridot sat up with a smirk, her breathing normal.

"Or, Aquamarine, we could use the map feature on my screen?" I sat up and glared at her, feeling dumb.

"No comment, but find us a close warp." Peridot chuckled, reattaching her limb enhancers and getting to work on the new plan. Her eyes lit up when I saw the screen change images, but it faded again as she eyed the results.

"It's pretty far. I'm not risking going back and having to fight those clods again. It'll be probably a few Earth days to walk, unless we have another mode of transportation." We didn't. With a sigh, she closed the screen and stood up. "We should get moving, then."

I only responded with a groan. I didn't want to move. "Let's start the trek in the morning, Peri. I'm exhausted." I looked up at the stars for a moment, and then closed my eyes. "I'm going to sleep. I'll see you when the sun rises."

There was no response, and I peeked one eye open at her. "…what?" She inquired. Sleep wasn't common on Homeworld, but as I was surrounded by humans for my entire time on Earth, I had become accustomed to it. I actually enjoyed it. Peridot, assumingly, had no idea what I was doing.

"Peri, it's sleep. You use it to regenerate energy in your physical form. It's what humans do." She squinted at me, observing my curled up form, keeping heat in my center. She then removed her limb enhancers and mimicked me.

"Good, now just close your eyes, keep them closed, and clear your mind. You'll fall asleep in no time." She did as I told, and I followed her, listening to her gentle breathing. "Good night." I said softly.

"Good night," she responded.

With her by my side and the gentle chirping of Earth's insects, I felt myself drifting off into slumber.


	8. Chapter 7: Date 6 99 6

Chapter 7: Date 6 99 6

As I awoke to the chirping of birds and the morning sun peeking over the mountains, I squinted as I opened my eyes. I stretched as my eyes adjusted and the world changed from bright light to the colorful planet I had known for years. I sat up and glanced to my left, where Peridot assumingly fell asleep next to me. The gem was gone.

I glanced around, scanning my surroundings, and spotted her a little ways away, sitting below a tree and tapping her screen with multiple beeps emanating from the technology. I stood up and walked over to her, my ears pricking as I heard her gently mumbling to herself.

"Heya, Peri. Sleep well?" I called to her as I got closer. She turned around with wide eyes for a moment, and then relaxed when she saw my form.

"I…think?" She closed her screen and played with some tufts of grass next to her. "I felt a strange sensation, almost as if I was watching a recording. But I opened my eyes, even though they were already open, and then it turned from night to day…?" Peridot scratched her head as I chuckled.

"Yep, you slept. That weird movie you saw is called a dream. The more you sleep, the more control you have over it." I smiled as she turned back to her screen.

"Yes, well, we won't have much time for that. We should start heading to the nearest warp. I have a few robonoids left, and we may be able to fix the Homeworld warp or at least find another way of communicating with the Diamonds." Peridot stood up and turned around, eyes fixed on her map. She started walking forwards, and I followed her, trotting for a moment to catch up with her.

I looked around as we walked, glancing up and seeing the way the leaves parted in intricate patterns, letting light in through their branches and almost making projections on the grassy floor beneath us. Her metallic legs thumped along as we walked; leaving a barely-noticeable trail of footprints with every step we took. Peridot was looking straight forwards at her map, following its directions and tracking every coordinate. I hummed softly to myself, matching the tune to the rhythm of our walking.

She, subconsciously, began walking in step with my humming, so much so that we were practically walking like soldiers, taking each step at exactly the same time so that we kept an even pace with each other. I grinned. Having spent so much time alone, I was still fascinated with how different Earth creatures and gems were, but yet they were very similar.

We walked for who knows how long, I lost track of the time. I swung my arms by my side and continued humming to the robotic rhythm of our feet. The sun continued its arc across the sky, biomes passing us by as we walked along.

Finally, we reached our destination. We were at another Kindergarten, this one in the desert, carved out of slabs of stone with large figures of gems popping out of the walls. In the center was a large warp pad, which we quickly scrambled towards, relieved to see after those hours of walking.

We both leapt onto the warp pad and Peridot activated it, bright light surrounding us and shooting us through space. Heading straight towards the Galaxy Warp in hopes of repairing it, I glanced around and saw some of Peridot's Flask Robonoid in the warp with us, flinging their mechanical legs in all directions to try and grasp any solid ground.

One robonoid managed to push itself towards the edge of the stream, and with the continued velocity, kept moving. I watched as one of its legs disappeared out into the cold vacuum as it whirled around. I looked towards Peridot, who was watching as well. Carefully, I reached towards it to try and pull it back into the warp, but a voice reached me through the bright light.

"You don't have to get it back. I have more, we can just let that one go." Peridot smoothened her hair as a strand was caught by the air rushing past us. I glanced back at the struggling robot and felt something, a strange guilt for the machine. I shifted my weight towards the robonoid and reached out, trying to grasp it as its legs flailed. Peridot raised an eyebrow at me, confused as to why I had remorse for this tiny machine.

I reached out more, stretching my arm and maneuvering to stay in the stream. I couldn't quite reach it, but I was determined at this point. We only had about four robonoids left, and I didn't want to lose this one. I didn't quite understand why, myself. I compressed myself into a small ball and kicked my legs in the empty space, finally reaching the robot as it was about to exit the stream. However, my momentum carried me forwards, and I continued to drift towards the barrier that separated us from the abyss we traveled through.

Before I could even panic, though, I felt a hand on my ankle. With enough strength to move me but not enough to harm me, Peridot pulled me back towards her in the stream, with the robonoid in my arms. The momentum, again, kept me moving, and I kept flying straight towards the green gem, as her limb enhancer released my ankle and were held out in front of her to prepare for the impact.

The warp was almost complete, but for a split second, we were face to face, in close proximity, with her arms at my sides and her eyes staring into mine through her visor. As we completed the warp, our centers of gravity were off, and we collapsed on the hard warp pad in the center of the Galaxy Warp, one on top of the other.

My face turning a bright shade of blue and hers matching mine with a shade of green, we scrambled off of each other, embarrassed. The robonoid, who had inadvertently been crushed from the landing, wriggled out from underneath me, its programming instructing it to go towards the broken Galaxy Warp. It began to do what it was programmed for, spraying its mending substance onto the reflective stone. The others that were travelling in the warp joined it, slowly repairing the warp.

The cracks began disappearing, but the robonoids were running out of their blue-green slime that repaired the stone. Their tiny bodies only held so much, and as the stream slowed, I bit my lip in anxiety. Then, they stopped, and stood motionless, no more programming in their system.

We stood still as well, assessing our situation. We had no more robonoids. That chance was gone.

We were stuck. Again.


	9. Chapter 8: Date 6 99 6

Chapter 8: Date 6 99 6

We stood in silence, the only sounds being our quiet, shaky breaths and the gentle breeze coasting through the Galaxy Warp. But my mind was buzzing, and I could tell hers was too.

Finally, I broke the silence. "What…what do we do?" I turn my head and see Peridot staring at the robonoids, her eyes glassy, a look of pure defeat in every inch of her expression.

"I don't know." She drew in a trembling breath, and I could see a small tear forming in the corner of her eye. I had never seen her like this. Completely lost, completely broken.

She swayed for a second, and then sunk down to her knees, her limb enhancers clattering on the shiny rocks. Her eyes didn't move, she just sat motionless on the ground, staring at her machines. I fell to my knees as well, next to her, staring not at the machines, but at the sky. The universe shone above us, and I was filled with a strange mix of emptiness, hopelessness, and just a completely broken feeling.

I don't know how much time passed where we sat in silence at the broken warp. I don't know if it was a few minutes or a few hours, but eventually I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, and looked at Peridot, I felt a new feeling. Her eyes were also closed, and I saw a faint streak of a teardrop under her visor. I saw how broken she was. But this new emotion caused me to jump up, startling the green gem and making her jump in surprise. I ran over to the Galaxy Warp and picked up a piece of the broken pad, hurtling it against the glassy surface with a sharp yell.

Peridot looked at me with a mix of fear, confusion, and surprisingly, admiration. Well, that's what it looked like, I wouldn't know. She had never looked at me like that before. But in a moment, after I threw another piece which cracked on the rock, she joined me with a scream, kicking the warp as the sadness was replaced by a strange mix of anger and joy. Although we hardly made a dent, we took our frustrating emotions out on the broken warp until we stood next to each other, panting, the pad essentially looking the exact same when we started.

Breathing heavily, I wiped sweat from my brow and brushed hair out of my eyes. Peridot attempted to regain her composure and looked to me and I tried to steady my breathing. Then, with a smile, she practically leaped at me and pulled me into a tight hug, squeezing me. I could feel her gritting her teeth, and I returned the gesture, speaking with a voice that was out of breath, but also determined.

"Peridot, we're in this together. We're stuck here together, but the only way we're getting off this planet is if we stay with each other. Cause I know we'll get off here, no matter what it takes." She pulled away and looked me in the eyes, a devious grin on her face.

"Yeah we will. And I know just the way to do it."

After a few hours at the Galaxy Warp, Peridot and I put together a plan. She knew that the Crystal Gems would be able to track us in a matter of time, or at least track her with her pod. I wouldn't be so easy to detect. So, when they did find us, we would lure them into an abandoned gem ship, trap them inside, and then raid their base, taking the escape pod with us and finding a way to fix the communication hub, getting us a way back home. It was foolproof.

Or so we thought.

The first stage of our plan was put into motion sooner than we thought. We were hanging around the Galaxy Warp, waiting for our targets to initiate the whole ordeal. Peridot's tracker had gone off, signifying that they would be coming for us any second. Once they attack us at the Galaxy Warp, I slip away through the warp system and meet at a predetermined location, the mini-base we made near the Communication Hub. Once she lures them away and we meet up, we warp to the ship and trap them inside.

I was resting on one side of the Galaxy Warp, sharpening my sword and gently humming to myself. Peridot fiddled with the broken pieces of the warp, trying to pile them up due to her obsessive need to organize them. I could hear her grumbling to herself. Something about the gems being a menace. She pulled up her touchscreen to check the status of the warp, but just then, one of the warps activated with a loud, sharp sound. I ducked behind the edge of the pad. They couldn't know I existed, or they could use me strategically to catch Peridot. I put away my sword and hid from their view, my body tense and my senses sharp.

"Oh, aha! Look! I was right! My plan worked perfectly!" The pearl spoke excitedly, and I could see them all in better detail now. I ground my teeth together as they faced Peridot, facing away from me. I could warp as soon as the chaos drowns out the sound.

The small human waved at Peridot, a light, upbeat voice, that seemed so out of place for the situation. "Good morning!" It called, producing a simultaneous scowl from both me and Peridot.

The green gem put on quite a show, acting as if she had no idea they would find her. They didn't know a thing about our plan, so she acted with hardly a flaw in her performance, hardly a waver in her voice. "What?! How did you know I was here?" I saw a tiny smile tug at her lips, but it quickly died, her face twisted into a false sense of shock.

I ducked behind the rock again, their voices becoming muffled. I heard Peridot's sharper tone louder than all the others' though, so I could coordinate with her. I shuffled over to the closest warp behind the team of Earth gems and waited, my heart beating rapidly and pounding in my ears.

"...and I'm not gonna stick around to find out when!" Her voice cut through the air, along with her blaster, that shot at a pillar near me and creating a cloud of smoke, causing the gems to huddle as one of them activated a shield, which protected me from their view. My chance. I darted to the warp and quickly activated it as I saw the shield disintegrate, making quick eye contact with Peridot. She grinned for a second and then turned her attention back to the gems with a chuckle, and light surrounded me as I shot through space to our temporary meeting spot.

I finished warping, breathing a sigh of relief and brushing off my dress. I looked around, confirming that I went to the right spot, and sat down in the grass with a smile. The plan was going perfectly.


	10. Chapter 9: Date 6 99 7

Chapter 9: Date 6 99 7

I waited patiently by the warp, laying down and feeling the cool grass on my form, my eyes closed, listening to the gentle wind through the trees and the distant chirping of Earth animals. It had been only a little bit, so I gave Peridot a bit of leeway time before I grew concerned.

The sun rose higher and higher before beginning its gentle decline through the sky, and still nothing from the warp. I stood up, pacing around the warp, nervously checking the functionality of it. I thought of going back, but it would be too dangerous if she was still fighting. So I stayed sitting in the grass by the glassy pad, too tense to sleep or even rest, as the sun sank lower and lower.

Then, finally, after what seemed like ages, the pad lit up brightly. I jumped to my feet, a grin on my face, as the light faded and Peridot stood there. But a few things were wrong.

For one, she was missing a foot. One of her limb enhancers had popped off and now she stood lopsided, smoke emitting from the machine. Her hair was matted, she was sweating, and she had bumps and bruises all over her form, and a few cracks in her visor. She hobbled off the pad and into the grass, collapsing and popping off her limb enhancers and flopping on the ground with a sigh.

"Oh my stars, Peridot, what happened?!" I knelt beside her and inspected her body closer, most importantly her gem. It had been unharmed, safely protected, with the only damage being done to her body. "Did it really take that long to fight them off?"

She shook her head. "No, I fought them off fairly quickly. But I realized that they could track me the second I stepped into the warp stream, so I changed course and went straight to the ship. I didn't want them to find you. So I trapped them myself, but they fused, broke out of the ship, and almost caught me, but only got away with my foot." Peridot sighed and closed her eyes. "We can't get into their base to get the pod now. I don't know what to do."

I bit my lip. It didn't work the way we thought it would, but minor setback, right? I racked my brain to find another solution, unconsciously twirling my fingers through Peridot's matted hair, who didn't seem to notice. Then, an idea. A small smile spread across my face, and Peridot looked up at me to also look for answers, raising an eyebrow at my grin. "...I know that face, Aquamarine. You've got an idea."

"You said we can't get into their base to get the pod back, right? Because we'll be captured." She nodded, and I tapped my chin, trying to find a way to word my new plan. "Well...what if we let ourselves get captured? One of us anyways. You can let them take you, and gain their trust or something. Then let me in when they're out of the dwelling, we take the pod, and boom! We're home free."

Peridot furrowed her brows, a look of deep thought on her face. "That might actually work...I recall stories of rebels taking hostages during the war, so they must have a place where they keep gems for interrogation or something. And with the spare parts they may have, I could even modify the escape pod to take us back to Homeworld, if I find the right things…" She stood up, pacing back and forth, mumbling to herself. Then her eyes lit up. "Yes, this will work!"

I grinned, standing up with her. "We'll finally go home! Wait, so you're okay with letting yourself be captured?"

She nodded. "Yeah, as long as you stay near the base so I can signal you if I need to. Or let you know when it's safe to get the pod."

Clapping my hands together, I took a deep breath. "Then let's do it. We'll plan it all out tonight, and then tomorrow we put it into action." Peridot nodded, her eyes filled with a new look of hope that I hadn't seen before. Her eyes twinkled, and I bent down and grabbed a stick, making small lines in the dirt as a makeshift blueprint.

The next day, we carefully observed the actions of the gems from a safe distance. It wasn't the most exciting task, but it had to be done. We watched their daily routines, the gems would go out fighting and the human would wander around the village or the house all day, occasionally joining them. Then, at one point, the little human came out onto the beach and was talking with a larger human, watching the waves crash onto the shore. We were close enough so that we could hear their conversation. It wasn't anything particularly exciting, until they started discussing a familiar name.

"Dad...I miss Lapis. I'm worried about her, y'know, being at the bottom of the ocean and such." The small human looked longingly towards the water. He was talking about Lapis Lazuli, the former informant of Peridot, before the ship was destroyed.

"I know, I miss her too. Well, as much as I can miss her, after she broke my leg and almost ruined my van." The larger one chuckled. "Thanks for fixing that by the way. I wonder what other things you can fix with that magic healing power of yours?"

Our ears pricked up at that notion. Power? "Yeah, we already know it can fix gems and people, it fixed you, Lapis…"

Peridot grabbed my arm and tugged me away, far enough so that they couldn't hear us. "Did you hear that? He's the one who fixed Lazuli's gem! Maybe he can fixed the warp!" Her eyes were sparkling and my own heart was racing at the thought.

"You're right, but can the same thing that heals organic material heal a warp pad?" She looked back at the little human. "It's another shot that doesn't involve us getting captured," I suggest. "It may be worth a try."

The pair walked into the house behind them. The sun started to set, and we knew the gems would be home soon and the small one would need to sleep to regenerate his energy. I turned to Peridot. "You have your limb enhancers. Maybe you could bring him to the warp pad, you know, so you can use your tractor beam to stop him if you need to?"

She sighed. "I...wish I had a better argument against that. But I really don't want to be captured...the thought of dealing with those crystal clods…" She shuddered. "I just want to go home. I want to get off this planet before it explodes, I want you to come back and see how much we've progressed. Honestly, all the data we've had of you should be wiped because we thought you were shattered. You can have a fresh start, as a technician with me or a designer of colonies. I just…"

Peridot sank behind the rock, the setting sun sending golden hues onto her form, which radiated it off with a gentle glow. "I don't want to be wrapped up in any of this chaos anymore. Jasper and Lazuli are gone, if I mess up any more who knows what'll happen with Yellow Diamond. I don't want to take any more chances, just peace." She sniffed, and I could tell that being stuck here was really getting to her. The only reason I ever survived without breaking down was the thought of her coming back for me. But now it was up to us to do it ourselves, and I didn't want that to hurt her anymore.

Filled with an emotion I didn't quite know until now, I stood up and faced the sun.

"Peridot, we are getting home tonight."

She looked up at me, and she looked scared, and she looked fragile. What emotion I was filled with I didn't know, but it made me want to help her. It made me want to protect her. Peridot was strong, and she was smart, and I was going to make sure she was happy. Whatever it takes.


End file.
